President Biden said Monday that a Russian-built pipeline to carry natural gas to Germany will be abandoned if Russia invades Ukraine. Biden made the remark during a joint news conference at the White House with Germany’s new chancellor, Olaf Scholz. Scholz did not explicitly state that Germany would suspend the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, though he said the U.S. and Germany were aligned in their positions. In Brussels, European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU was exploring other options for its energy supplies — which would include fracked gas from the United States.

Ursula von der Leyen: “We are building a partnership for energy security with the United States, which is primarily about more liquefied natural gas supplies. We are talking to other gas suppliers — for example, Norway — about increasing their supplies to Europe.”

Also on Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron met Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin. Putin said Russia was still working to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis over Ukraine, but warned of a wider, nuclear-armed confrontation if Ukraine is to join the NATO military alliance.